


Too High a Price

by Jmas



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-10-07 11:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10359258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jmas/pseuds/Jmas
Summary: SPOILERS : The Other SideThinking about costs...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Too High a Price

Damn, damn, damn…..

Thestars glittering above him, Jack leaned back in his deck chair and let the day’s events replay in his mind. He’d taken two colossal wrongs and had yet to find any kind of right in the mix. He’d revisited a part of himself he’d thought left behind over four years ago and found a man it shamed him to know. He’d come so damn close to selling out his integrity, his world, and his friend for the sake of caving to the pressure coming down from on high, the call to put up or shut up…and shut down the gate for good. 

The caving bothered him as much as the rest of it. He knew the primary objectives of the program, knew they had to stop showing up with half-assed allies who treated them like impetuous and undisciplined children just because they’d been traveling the stars and the Stargate system so much longer. The fact remained - Earth was at risk, and none of those allies seemed inclined to act as interstellar police to protect them. The Asgard Treaty was barely worth the hologram it was recorded on; one capricious System Lord could blow it all in a fit of pique. Apophis was more powerful than ever now that he had all of Sokar’s resources added to his own…and Apophis was a proven snaky bastard with absolutely no love for the Tau’ri….not to mention a grudge the size of Chulak against SG1. They were playing against time and had no clue as to when the clock would run out.

There were a lot of reasons Jack had done what he done on Euronda, but reasons didn’t add up to excuses - and he had no excuse for cutting Daniel down and ignoring the man’s instincts, instincts that time and again had proven right. It hadn’t been enough just to ignore Daniel, no, he’d cut the man down and off at the knees in a personal way. He’d turned what could and had always been a simple philosophical difference - and God knew they had more than a few of those - into an attack. They had rarely let those differences seep into the foundations of their underlying friendship, never to the degree it had this time. This time Jack had gone so far as to denigrate Daniel’s abilities and instincts, shoving off Daniel’s concerns as if the man were a child to be dismissed.

It had taken Alar’s clear dislike of Teal’c, his silky, oh-so reasonable words of prejudice to trigger the alarms that had subtly been twanging beneath the surface all along. All the ultimatums on Earth couldn’t make him deny his own instincts any longer. Apologizing to Daniel had been easy by comparison, and he’s meant every word. Jack laughed softly into the night sky, remembering Daniel’s confusion at his about-face. Jack understood the confusion; his behavior had been out of line and out of character for the man and the friend he’d become, and Daniel had recognized it just as clearly as he’d seen it back during the Maybourne mess. Daniel might not know what was wrong, but he was damn good at catching onto the fact that something was.

Jack knew Daniel forgave him, or would in time, but he also knew the closed expression and body language he’d been treated to in the locker room revealed a Daniel who was puzzling over everything that had happened on Euronda and after. Carter wasn’t the only one who understood the implications of the dull thud on the iris. Daniel deserved an explanation from Jack, and explanation Jack wasn’t sure he could give - at least not for the reasons he’d let Alar die. Maybe the answer was as simple as containing the subtle poison of the man. Maybe it was as base as vengeance for tempting Jack to sell his soul at too high a price. 

There’d been a time in his life when he wouldn’t have asked the price, a time after Charlie and before Abydos, a time his soul wasn’t held at much value - even by himself. But now it did, now he did - in large part thanks to his team, his new friends and family, who helped him remember who he was.

With a sigh Jack sought out the general area where he knew Abydos lay. Five years ago he’d left his demons behind there - forever he thought - but today one of them had reared up and tried to reclaim him. He figured he might still be lacking on the cosmic justice scale, but he couldn’t help thinking he’d come out of things on the right side. A mini-Hitler would never bring his brand of evil to Earth again, Jack had managed to hang onto his soul, and Daniel would get some quality bonding time wherein Jack hoped he’d be able to explain what had brought them to a crossroads on Euronda. Or not. Maybe they’d just talk about friendship - and the cost of keeping it.

**The End**

  


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> Another of the missing scenes or tags for season 4 I promised to the HC list. 

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>   
> © June 11, 2001 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television,   
> Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd.   
> Partnership.  
> This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and   
> solely meant for entertainment.   
> All other characters, the story idea and the story itself   
> are the sole property of the author.   
> 

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